This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
This invention relates to the construction of a portable stand-alone cabana-type restroom of the type used for temporary restroom facilities that has an easily-assembled modular structure requiring minimum use of mechanical fasteners to achieve and maintain an assembled condition.
Portable stand-alone cabana-type restrooms housing restroom facilities such as toilets and sinks provide people with restroom facilities at concerts, parks, fairs, sporting events, construction sites and other places of public gathering where such facilities would otherwise be unavailable. Conventional cabana-type restrooms typically include walls constructed from relatively large, thin sheets or panels of thermoplastic material such as polyethylene-type plastic. The walls may be flat or may include indentations, ribs or other similar type features as desired and define both the height and the width of the cabana enclosure. One wall panel typically includes a door frame with a door hingedly connected thereto for providing access to the interior of the restroom. A base or floor component is also typically provided, to which the walls are attached, and a roof is typically attached to the upper portions of the walls.
Many portable restrooms are designed to form a generally square enclosure. Accordingly, the assembly of such restrooms requires the attachment of multiple (typically four) side wall panels together upon a base and the subsequent attachment of a roof. The attachment of side wall panels to each other can be done either directly or through the use of intermediate connector panels, brackets or other devices of various types. However, such attachment typically requires the use of numerous mechanical fasteners, such as rivets, screws or nuts and bolts, which has at least four disadvantages: (1) additional number of parts required to complete the restroom assembly (which increases overall cost); (2) additional time and effort required to complete an assembled condition of the restroom; (3) additional time and effort required to partially disassemble the restroom or remove one or more individual components, such as for repair; and (4) additional time and effort required to completely disassemble the restroom, such as for saving space during transportation, making complete disassembly often impractical.
Portable restrooms are often transported at various times during their distribution and use, such as from the manufacturer to the purchaser (such as a restroom provider and maintenance company), among various locations where they are used, to and from storage facilities and to and from repair and maintenance facilities. When portable restrooms are transported in an assembled condition, they require significantly more space than if they were transported in a disassembled condition. However, the use of numerous mechanical fasteners provides limitations on when and where the restroom units can be assembled and disassembled.
The use of numerous mechanical fasteners during the assembly of such restrooms tends to dictate where and when the restrooms must be assembled before being delivered to the purchaser. In the use of rivets, the assembly of the restroom is not practically performed at any location other than at the manufacturer's facility or distribution center because of the specialized equipment, specialized skill and/or substantial effort required to assemble the restrooms. In the use of screws or nuts and bolts, the equipment, skill and effort required to assemble the restrooms is somewhat less, but the assembly is nevertheless time and effort-consuming due to the large number of fasteners required to assemble a typical portable restroom. Therefore, regardless of whether numerous rivets or nuts and bolts are used, it is generally impractical to assemble the restrooms at any location other than at the manufacturer's facility or distribution center.
The use of numerous mechanical fasteners during the assembly of such restrooms also tends to dictate the cost, effort and location required for the repair of damaged restrooms. In some situations, one or more side panels, connector assemblies, doors, roofs, bases or other major structural components of portable restrooms become damaged, due to weather, vandalism or use. Many times, it is desirable to repair the restroom by replacing only the damaged component(s). Where the restroom is assembled using many rivets to attach the components, the rivets associated with the damaged component(s) must be removed, such as by drilling them out, and the replacement component(s) must be riveted in its/their place. Since such repair can generally only be accomplished at a repair facility, any damaged restrooms must typically be transported to such a repair facility and re-transported to their storage or next use location. Where the restroom is assembled using many screws or nuts and bolts to attach the components, the screws or nuts and bolts associated with the damaged component(s) must be removed, and the replacement component(s) must be rescrewed or rebolted in its/their place. While it is possible to repair this type of restroom at its location of use or at a storage facility, the required time and effort for removing the numerous mechanical fasteners would often make such repairs impractical, causing such damaged units to also be transported back to a dedicated repair facility. Therefore, regardless of whether numerous rivets, screws or nuts and bolts are used, it is generally impractical for a restroom owner or restroom fleet owner to repair typical damaged restrooms at any location other than at the owner's storage facility or dedicated repair center. Accordingly, such repairs may even require the assistance of the manufacturer, which would involve even more transportation, effort and cost.
The use of numerous mechanical fasteners during the assembly of such restrooms also tends to make the assembly semi-permanent, in that the restrooms cannot practically be disassembled without substantial effort and cost. Disassembly or partial disassembly of portable restrooms could be desirable for restroom owners in a number of instances. Sometimes, restricted space for transportation (and/or associated cost for additional space) might make the convenient disassembly of portable restrooms beneficial. In addition, in many parts of the world, such restrooms are only used during warm-weather seasons and are stored during cold-weather seasons. Restricted storage space (and/or associated cost for additional space), might also make the convenient disassembly of portable restrooms beneficial.
Ease of assembly and disassembly is also desirable with respect to other restroom components for the same reasons. The base and roof are also often assembled using rivets, screws and/or nuts and bolts, which require similar significant effort during both assembly and disassembly operations. For the same reasons as those set forth above, it is also desirable to minimize the number of fasteners required for attaching these components and to make the assembly and disassembly as convenient as possible.